The village: secrets and lies
by Enihpled Amira
Summary: Leah lives in a small village, where everybody works for Mr. Whitmore. Why cant she leave the village? And what are the 'problems?
1. Chapter 1

Leah lives with her family in a small village. Everybody there works for Mr. Whitmore. Her parents often have meetings with 'important people' because there are 'problems'.

Based on _Atlantis the lost Empire_

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything's property of Disney.

(This is NOT a sequel to 8500)

* * *

Hello. My name is Leah.

I'm six years old.

I live in a big house, with my mother, my father, my brothers and sister, and Dina, her sister Moira, and Appi. Dina cooks our meals. Appi works in the house. He's nice, and funny. He's in love with Dina, but he's afraid to tell her. Moira's really sweet. She looks out after me, Jenna, Rory and Nathan when Mommy and Daddy aren't home.

Rory is my twin brother, but he doesn't look like me. Jenna and Nathan are a twin too. Mom says that there were a lot of twins in her family. I've never met them. Mom says they died a long time ago.

I'm not sure where I live, but it's somewhere in America. I live in a small village, not far from a big white building with W_H_I_T_M_O_R_E__I_N_D_U_S_T_R_I_E_S on it. Every morning Mommy and Daddy go to the building, because they have meetings with important people. They work for an old man, Mr. Whitmore. He's weird. Daddy told me he collects strange things like this cup called 'the holy grail' or something like that. Sometimes he comes to our house to talk with Mom and Dad. He says he's an old friend of them. He showed me some pictures of him, my parents and their friends in countries like Iceland and Peru. My parents often go abroad. I can't come with them. They say it's too dangerous. My sister really wants to go with them too. We almost never leave the village.

She says she feels like a prisoner here. Every house has got a metal fence around it, and there's a high wall around the village with guards. I asked Mr. Whitmore why there was a wall, but he didn't want to tell me. I asked my parents the same question, but they didn't answer it too.

Then I asked Jenna. She said she didn't know, but she did know she, Nathan and our parents used to live in a big city and they moved to this place a year before I was born. Then I asked Nathan why we live here. Nathan told me it's because the grownups have a secret, and Mr. Whitmore makes them live here so they don't tell anyone and that they are safe here, because some people will try to kidnap them to make them tell it. I don't believe him.

Sammy, my best friend, says we live here so we can protect the things Mr. Whitmore collects. She told me it's our parent's job to find those things and bring them to Mr. Whitmore. Her father is a friend of my Mom and Dad. He is the village's doctor. I like him. He's nice. My parent's have some strange friends, like this creepy French guy, named 'Mole' or that crazy old man 'Cookie'. The others are ok.

Last week I heard them talk about a place called 'Atlantis', and I asked them where it was.

Mrs. Packard answered that 'Atlanta' was a city in Georgia.

I'm sure I heard them talk about a place called 'Atlantis', not 'Atlanta'.

I asked Jenna if she knew a place called 'Atlantis'.

She told me the story of the empire and its destruction, and said that Moira had told her that Mr. Whitmore had sent our parents, their friends and about 200 other people to look for it, but they didn't find it and almost everybody died on the journey.

Is that why we live here? Are people angry with Mr. Whitmore because let all those people die?

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Thanks for reading! I'll try to update soon (this story+8500).


	2. Chapter 2

Leah lives with her family in a small village. Everybody there works for Mr. Whitmore. Her parents often have meetings with 'important people' because there are 'problems'.

Based on _Atlantis the lost Empire_

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything's property of Disney.

* * *

This morning, I went to the attic of our house to see if I could find something about my family before they moved.

I really want to know why there's a big wall with guards round our village, and I want to learn more about my parent's job and this place called 'Atlantis'.

Jenna told me she once went to the library to look for information about Atlantis, but there weren't any books about it. There are a lot of books there. Why isn't there a book about Atlantis? Nathan says that there are books about it, but they are on the third floor. Children can't go there.

I found a box with some old photos. Mainly of our lives here. Our birthdays, me and Rory when we were babies, Jenna and Nathan playing in the backyard…

In there was a picture of my parents, their friends, and some people I don't know with strange, fishlike vehicles. I showed them to Sammy, Jenna, and Rory, but when Moira saw them, she took them away and gave them to Dad. At first I was really angry, but then I found Mommy and Moira crying. Was it because I did something wrong?

I have so many questions. Who were the people on the picture?

Were they the people who died on the journey to Atlantis? Did Mom and Moira cry because they miss them?

What are those fish things?

Why couldn't I see the picture?

I talked to Sammy. She said her parents didn't like it when she asked them about their past, or their job.

Maybe they have a secret like Nathan said?

Maybe they do bad things, like stealing stuff for Mr. Whitmore?

No, it can't be. My Mommy and Daddy aren't thieves! They are good people!

They work really hard to solve the problems. But what are those 'problems'?

Dad told me there are some problems in a big city, far away, and that's why he and Mommy have a lot of meetings to solve them. He says it's important.

Normally, the 'important people' come to the big white building; but sometimes they come to our house.

The 'important people' speak Italian to our parents.

I know it's Italian because my parents sometimes speak Italian when they talk to Gina, Appi or Moira. I don't speak Italian. I only speak English.

Normally, the people who come to our house are kind.

Mom says some of them are friends from the city.

But the 'important people' aren't always friendly.

This afternoon, some people came to our house. They said they wanted to talk with Mommy and Daddy. More 'important people'. Normally, my parents always tell me when people are coming to our house. This time they didn't. Mom said they were here uninvited.

Uncle Normy was there too. He's not really our uncle, but we call him our uncle. He's an old friend of Mom and Dad. He helps them to solve 'the problems'.

The important people didn't look very happy. Mom and Dad didn't look very happy either.

There were five of them. Three important men and two important women.

One of the men yelled something to me and Nathan. I don't know what he said. I wanted to ask Nathan, he speaks some Italian, but then the man said in English that we were stupid children and that we had to go upstairs.

Then Mom and Dad yelled something back at him, and an 'important' woman apologized and said the man didn't mean what he had said.

Then Moira took us to our rooms. We could hear them yell at each other.

Did they have a quarrel? Why?

Was this the 'problem'?

Dad said there were problem**s, **and they were in a big city, far away.

The same big city they used to live?

Was this the reason Mommy and Moira cried?

Or were the problems the reason they had left the city?

I hope they solve the problems.

I don't like it when they are sad.

Why do Mommy and Daddy have to solve their problems anyway?

Cant they solve their problems themselves?

I wouldn't help them. I don't want to help people who are mean.

The guards came and made the people leave. This was the first time I saw the guards inside the village.

Normally they are near the wall, or sometimes near the big white building.

Mommy told me some of the guards will be staying with us for a while, to protect us.

Against what?

The people who came to our house?

So many questions.

Maybe I'll have some answers tomorrow.

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Thanks for reading this story!

Again, I'll try to update soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Leah lives with her family in a small village. Everybody there works for Mr. Whitmore. Her parents often have meetings with 'important people' because there are 'problems'.

Based on _Atlantis the lost Empire_

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything's property of Disney.

* * *

This morning, Mommy and Daddy told us they had to go abroad again. They left four hours ago.

Jenna asked them where they were going, they answered: "Italy". When I asked them when they will be back, they said they didn't know exactly, but they will be home soon.

We couldn't go with them. Too dangerous.

Moira will look after us. The guards are still here to protect us.

If the place Mommy and Daddy are going is dangerous, why didn't they take the guards with them, to protect them?

I wanted to tell them this before they left, so I went to their bedroom, where they were packing.

When I reached the door to their bedroom, I heard Mommy ask Daddy:

" _Why can't we just tell them? Eventually they'll find out…"_

"_You know it's too dangerous…"_

Too dangerous? Is **everything** 'too dangerous'?

"_I'm tired of lying to my children."_

"_I'm tired of it too, but you know we can't tell them the truth."_

"_Our whole lives are lies. That can't be good for anybody."_

"_I know, honey, but f things go right now, we can move back, and be honest with them."_

"_Yes. I hope the children will be able to adapt to all the changes…I mean, the youngest don't even speak the language…"_

_Yes, I know, but their lives will be much better, and in the city, they have a future. Here, they are locked away from the outside world. I know Mr. Whitmore did that for our own safety, but it still seems a little extreme."_

"_The man had no other choice. I mean, what if…"_

I stepped forward, but my mother had heard it.

"_What was that?"_

Quickly, I hid myself in another room.

Mom opened the door. Nothing there.

"_Probably nothing."_

I still can't believe what I've heard.

Mommy and Daddy lied to me! Parents can't lie. They always taught me it's wrong to lie.

Was my entire life a lie?

What are lies, and what is the truth?

Are they even my parents?

Are Nathan and Rory my brothers?

Is Jenna really my sister? I don't know it anymore.

A lot of people don't believe Rory and I are a twin

I don't look like him. His skin is much darker than mine.

I thought I looked more like Daddy, and Rory more like Mommy.

Could I be adopted?

Is Leah even my real name?

Maybe I'm overreacting. Still, they have a secret, and I want to know what it is.

Daddy said something about moving. Are we moving back to the big city?

To the big city with the 'problems'?

To the big city with the 'important people'?

I wanted to be able to leave the village, see the world.

I don't want to move to a foreign country. All my friends are here.

Here I can play with Sammy, Nora, Jane…

And it will be hard to make new friends if I can't speak their language.

At first, my brothers and sister didn't believe me when I told them what I had heard.

Rory said that Mommy and Daddy would never lie to us, I was a liar.

Jenna said she would ask our parents about it when they are back home. Nathan thought Moira knew more about it, so we went to her. She didn't answer all our questions, but she told us Mom and Dad were thinking about moving back to the city when all of the 'problems' are solved, but that would take some time. Nothing about lies.

We've learnt not to ask to many questions, because most won't be answered.

Still, you can always try. So I asked her what she knew about Atlantis. I couldn't ask her when my parents were around. She made me promise I wouldn't tell my parents she had told me about Atlantis. Then she told me the same story Jenna had told me, but the ending was different. She told me Mr. Whitmore found the lost empire, and it is now on the surface, but you can't go there. The Atlanteans attack everybody who goes to their city, and they made the rest of the world believe again that Atlantis doesn't exist. Then Appi entered the room and suddenly she switched to the ending of Little Red Riding Hood. When she was finished, she sent me to bed.

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Thanks for reading my story! I'll try to update soon.

( The grammar? I know, I'm sorry for that.)


	4. Chapter 4

Leah is surrounded by guards, lies and walls The world through the eyes of a six year old girl.

Based on _Atlantis the lost Empire_

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything's property of Disney. ( except the things I made up)

Sorry it took so long, but it's longer than my previous chapters.

* * *

This morning, I went to see Sammy and told her we weren't moving now.

She was happy I was staying for now, but also sad because we're going to move someday.

I'm sad too. We are best friends. I don't want to lose her.

I'm going to miss this place. My friends, my house, my school…

Maybe I can talk to my parents, let them know I don't want to move.

I never wanted to move, just to be able to leave this place, see the world.

If being able to leave the village means losing all the people I love, then I prefer being locked up here.

This place is all I know, for years it has been almost my entire world, and I liked it that way. The few times we left our village, made me curious about the rest off the world, behind the wall.

Like the time we went to the zoo ( some guards came with us, of course). We saw all those strange animals, from all those strange countries, and it made me want to see more.

I still want to see more, but I'm scared every time I leave this place, since the day the guards had to remove the 'important people' from our house. And when guards come with you every time you have to leave our village, or even have to go close to the wall, there must be something dangerous out there…

Here, I always felt safe.

Maybe we aren't moving at all.

Maybe it's just another lie.

What did Mom mean with lies?

Something like 'I didn't eat the cookies, it was the cat'(that was really dumb of Rory, we don't have a cat) or something serious like 'I didn't kill that guy'?

Why all these secrets? What can be so dangerous we need walls, guards and lies to protect us?

Back home, I found Dina and Moira yelling at each other in something half Italian/ half English.

Dina was really angry Moira had told us about Atlantis. She knows she can't talk about it.

Dina asked her why she did it.

Moira answered that she hadn't told us everything, and whispered something in Dina 's ear. More secrets.

Then she said that we have _the right to know._

Suddenly, the phone rang.

Mom and Dad, from Italy.

Dina told them what Moira had done. Then she said something in Italian, before turning to me. Mom wanted to talk to me. Luckily she wasn't angry with me. She just said she didn't want me to waste my time with a fairytale, like they had done. She told me they would be home in a couple off days. I asked her if it was true we were going to move. She said they were thinking about it., but nothing was sure.

Then I heard a strange voice in the background. Mom said she had to go now, and we would talk when she's back home.

I was glad Mom wasn't angry.

This was my chance.

I begged Dina to tell me more about Atlantis. At first she refused to do so. She said she was the cook, it was not her job to tell me stories, and she had to make supper now. She promised me to tell the rest of the story in the evening.

The day passed, and it became time for our bedtime story. I sat down on Rory's bed, as Dina and Moira entered the room. Moira always tells us our bedtime story in here, and when she's finished I go to my room. Jenna and Nathan can stay up for another hour.

_Ok, I'll tell you about Atlantis, but then, straight to bed._

_This story isn't really appropriate for small children, but if you really want to hear it…_

_Don't come to me if you get nightmares, ok?_

_You shouldn't be afraid. Remember, it's just a story, it's not true. Atlantis is just a fairytale._

_I don't know how people like Mr. Whitmore could ever believe it existed…_

_A long time before you were born, Mr. Whitmore sent out an expedition to find Atlantis. Nobody is sure if they ever found it, but there are a lot of rumors they did, but only a part of the empire, mainly the capital city had survived the flood. They say there even would have been living Atlanteans._

_Their king didn't want the explorers in his city, so they could only stay for one night._

_While they were in the city, the old king died, some people say he was killed by one of the explorers, because he wanted to steal their power source, a kind of magic crystal, but the others stopped him and he died._

_One of the explorers fell in love with the Atlantean princess and didn't want to leave. When his friends left, he stayed in Atlantis and married the princess, who had now become the queen of Atlantis , and he became the king._

_The other explorers agreed to keep Atlantis a secret until they were ready to let the outside world know they existed._

_The king and queen were good to their people. Eventually they let Atlantis rise to the surface again because they wanted to share the Atlantean knowledge with the world._

_Not everybody was happy with the__ king, because he was an outsider, not an Atlantean.__ One man, a noble from an ancient aristocratic family named Mestor (after one of the first kings of Atlantis), thought he should have been king, and started making an army to take over the empire. __He hated the queen, because she had refused to marry him.__ He had __been proposing to her__ since they were teenagers, and every time her answer had been NO, followed by some insults._

_Because he had power and a big influence on the city, he got a lot of followers. Many of them didn't want to betray their king and queen, but they had no choice. If they didn't cooperate, they would be killed._

_For years, they worked in secret, making plans to take over control… _

_The one day, they attacked. They went to the palace, the guards tried to stop them, but there were too many of them. A lot of the royal guards were on Mestor's side._

_Eventually, they managed to capture the Atlantean royal family._

_They banned them from their empire. No one ever heard from them again. Some people said Mestor __had t__hem killed._

_He wanted Atlantis to be hidden again, but he didn't have the power to let it sink to the bottom of the ocean again. So he ordered the leaders of the other countries of the world to tell Atlantis never existed, and to make sure no one ever went to the city again. If they didn't do so, Atlantis would attack them. Everybody feared the powers of their great crystal, their energy source; so they let the people believe the messages that Atlantis was real had been jokes, __misinformation by the Germans.__ That's why today, that is if you believe the rumors of course, almost everybody believes Atlantis is __gibberish, and others__ are afraid to ever speak about it._

_The truth? Well, Atlantis is just a myth, even Mr. Whitmore sees that now. The expedition, to find Atlantis is the biggest mistake he ever made, and he doesn't want anybody to repeat it._

_After the failed expedition we decided to hide all the books about Atlantis and never speak of it again__, so nobody of us would ever go look for it again. _

_The news of the failed expedition quickly spread across the world, and today people are still shocked by the fact that 200 people died because of a fairytale._

_You had your story: n__ow, straight to bed!_

I waked up because the phone rang again. I got out of my bed. Dina was talking to Mom_. _She said it's possible Daddy will be home tomorrow evening, because he fell down the stairs and they aren't sure, but he might have broken his leg. She and uncle Normy will return in three days .

Poor Daddy. I hope he's all right.

I remember Nathan had a lot of pain when he broke his foot.

He was playing soccer with his friends and he fell down.

Dina sent me back to bed. It was 5 o'clock in the morning.

* * *

Thanks for reading

I'll try to update soon

I know you are probably thinking: _What? Why didn't the crystal do something?, Kid and Milo can't be dead!_ or something like that, but I'll explain everything in my following chapters.


	5. Chapter 5

Leah is surrounded by guards, lies and walls The world through the eyes of a six year old girl.

Based on _Atlantis the lost Empire_

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything's property of Disney. ( except the characters I made up, and there are many of them in this story: Leah, Rory, Jenna, Nathan, Sammy, Mestor, Moira, Dina, Appi, Pangesh…)

My new chapter. I know it's short.

* * *

An hour later I woke up again, because I heard this noise coming from outside the house. Very loud …

I got out of bed and walked towards the window. People... There were people I had never seen before in our village (and here, everybody knows everybody). Fighting with the guards. There was a huge hole in the wall. Unbelievable. All these years, we lived locked away from the outside world…and then, when the wall should protect you from intruders, it fails….

Appi entered the room, telling me I had to rush towards the basement. He said I didn't have to worry, the guards would take care of everything. I heard some one scream outside, and then I noticed the smell of…something burning. As I left the room, I looked through the window one more time. Sammy's house was on fire. Al I could do was go downstairs and hope everything was going to be alright and that everybody was unharmed.

It was dark in the basement, but I was happy to see we were all there, except for Appi, who was outside helping the guards to fight the intruders. I'm worried: what if something happens to him? He has worked for my family for ...I don't know how long, he was here long before i was born. He's a part of our family.

Dina told us to be quiet. I can't speak anyway, I 'm too frightened. What if they find us? What if they set our house on fire, with us inside it? What if Sammy is…dead? I don't know if anybody was in there when they…

No… No…They are such nice people …They can't be dead. They can't be dead!!!

_Bang krshhh _

What was that? It sounded like the door being…

_Tic tic _

Footsteps. Coming this way. Please, don't find us.

_Klang krrac kling_

That is definitely the sound of …someone destroying our living room.

_Kling_

That was the antique vase…

Reminds me of the time Mom and Dad had to go to Mr. Whitmore's house on Moira's day of and they asked this teenage girl to baby-sit…( I didn't do anything! She left us alone and Rory and Nathan started playing soccer in the living room…)

_Bang_

It sounds like they are fighting.

There saying something… I can't understand what they're saying…

More footsteps coming in our direction.

"_How can you do this to me? I'm your brother…"_

Is that… Appi?

"_I have no choice, and you know that…If I don't follow his orders, he'll kill my family."_

"You had a choice, like .."

"You? You were just lucky they took you with them when they…"

I can't hear it anymore. There's a lot of noise coming from outside. They are coming this way…

I didn't know Appi had a brother. Actually, I don't know anything about most people's life before they moved to our village. Nobody wants to talk about it. More secrets… I'm starting to think it would be better to move to the city, it seems a lot safer to live there, and maybe everybody will be honest there..

"_Pangesh? Are they in there"?_

Oh no.

"_No. Nobody. The place is empty."_

_(Appi to Pangesh)"Thanks, Pangesh."_

"_Just go."_

( from outside)"_Are you sure? According to the boss the children must be in there somewhere…"_

Children? They're after us?

"_I told you there's nobody in here. Why don't we just go now ?We already have two of their friends…"_

"_He wanted the children and Whitmore, not that doctor Sweet and that French…thing."_

They've got Sammy's father? Oh no…Well, at least I now know they aren't dead…

They can have Mole.

Why are they after us? Mr. Whitmore I can understand, but…us? And why the doctor and Mole…

"_We have to go. The guards have already captured half of our men…There's no time to look for them."_

* * *

I'm afraid that's all. It can take a while for me to update this, because I have to go back to school next week, and I'm working on the next chapter of my crossover now, but as soon as I have another 150 words, I'll start working on this story again.

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm really sorry it took so long to update! **I had a lot of homework ( and I still have), and the past week I've been typing 'My own urban legend' for my Dutch teacher, a text about Shakespeare's _Hamlet _for history (Yes, Hamlet!), but when my Dutch teacher gave me a new assignment and I saw a picture of the front of the _Atlantis the Lost Empire _DVD box( I know what you're thinking, but it's true, we're learning about legends, myths …), I knew it was a sign I had to start typing this chapter. I know it's short, as usual, but I didn't have much time. Sorry 4 the grammar & spelling.

Well, enjoy!

* * *

I was terrified when the door opened, but glad to see it was Appi.

I asked him if the intruders were gone. They were. Well, most of them.

The guards captured many of them. The others fled away. With Sammy's father , unfortunately.

I still don't understand why they took doctor Sweet.

Why did Appi's brother attack us? Why did Appi never mention he had a brother anyway? Maybe they have a quarrel? Sometimes, when I have an argument with one of my brothers, I don't want to talk to them for days. But I never attacked them. Last time, Rory spew in my glass of lemonade and he kicked me; Nathan once cut the hair of my doll, but nobody got hurt badly ( although the kicking really hurt!) and no one ever got kidnapped (except for my teddy bear, Pluto. It took me three days and a cookie to get it back).

The living room was a mess. Moira would have a lot of work to clean it before Dad arrived. But I think he won't mind, he'll be happy we're safe, and not hurt (or kidnapped).

I looked at the clock.

**20:42 **

_[present( although it would have been easier to write in the past)]_

Unbelievable how time flies when you're under attack. It's getting dark outside, looking trough the window I can see some lights in the distance, near the gate. People are coming out of their houses. The intruders? Are they back? Or maybe it are the 'important people' again. "Moira? Appi? Dina?" Moira stops cleaning the house and looks at me. "What's wrong, honey?" I just point out to the lights outside. They are coming in our direction. Moira walks at the door and opens it. The lights. It's a car. It stops in front of our house. The intruders? They wanted _the children._ Us. Are they back? A man steps out of the car. Why doesn't Moira shut the door? The stranger is coming…he enters the house…

"Uncle Normy!!!" I run towards him and I give him a big hug. "Hey, there, little princess. And my pal Rory. Well, look at you, I'm gone for less tan 3 days, and that's enough for you two to grow 5 inches!" "Uncle Normy! You know that's not true. What are you doing here? I thought you were …" " Well, for now, they don't need me there anymore and I thought you'd like it if I came home, especially after what happened today. Where are your brother and sister? I have two surprises for you all. But one's having trouble to get out of the car."

"Daddy! Mommy!"

"What? I couldn't let him go back alone. I think he might be needing a new pair of glasses; maybe that way he'd see the stairs…"

Rory rushes out of the house and he gives Dad a hug.

"Aaah! My leg!!"

"I'm sorry Daddy. I'm just happy to see you."

"It's ok, Rory. I've missed you too. 3 days is too long. We're so sorry we weren't here for you this morning."

A brief moment of silence. I hate those moments.

"What did you do in Italy?" Maybe 'the problems' are solved now. Does that mean we're moving to the city now?

"And did you bring something back for us?"

"Rory!"

"Let's see... This evil madman wanted to conquer the world but we stopped him with our lasers and…"

"Dad!" My father and his stories…I know we're only six years old, but does he really think we…

"We went to Rome, we signed some papers and we ate pizza. Does that sound more realistic to you?"

"Yes." That sounds more like my parents.

Nathan decides to show up and just says "Hi, Mom; Dad."

"Well, look who's finally here. What's the matter? Aren't you happy your parents are back? "

Everybody laughs.

"Come here, you. Three out of four; not bad. Let's go inside now, it's cold out here. By the way, where's your sis…"

"AAAAAAAAH"

"Jenna!"

* * *

Thanks 4 reading

I know there are some peoplewho're thinking "What's happening here?" and maybe you can't follow; but a lot will be explained in the following chapters, I promise (just give me some time to write them; all those things that I have to type like 'mes habitudes alimentaires' are taking a lot of my time)


	7. Chapter 7

Hey, it's me again! With a really, really short chapter. Sorry for grammar & spelling.

* * *

"Get the guards. Hurry, they can't be far! They already have the doctor and Mole. I don't want to lose my daughter too!"

Jenna. They've got. Jenna. My sister. I keep repeating it in my head, but I can't believe it. They've got Jenna!

"You've heard it, guys. Close the gates! No one can leave this place until we find the girl."

"There haven't been any vehicles going through the gates. She's still here somewhere. We'll find her, sir."

"It can't be…, I mean we've just…"

"Sir, we found this note in the backyard."

Dad's reading it. And I don't like the look on his face. Now he's showing it to Mom, who's mumbling something in Italian.

"What should we do?"

"What can we do? We'll have to wait until _he_ contacts us."

He? Who does uncle Normy mean with that?

"No, by then it can be too late. We have to go after them. Interrogate the men we captured today. They can tell us where Mestor's camp is"

Mestor? Did Mom just say Mestor? The intruders, are they…

"But, y…"

"Kids, go pack your bags. We're going on a trip."

"What? Honey, we can't take the kids with us, I mean…"

"It's too dangerous? I know, but I wasn't thinking about taking them to his camp. They are coming with you to…"

"What? With me?"

"You can't do anything for now, not with that leg. And besides, the only place they're truly safe is…"

"But there might still be…"

"All of Mestor's true followers are either dead, captured or **out there in the camp where they hold our daughter! And right now they are making plans too…"**

"You're right, you're right. But how do we explain….you know…"

(I think that for some reason they believe we can't hear them when they're shouting so loud even that Mestor guy has heard it)

"Well, I think it's time to tell them the truth…"

Dad looks at us.

"Kids, go pack your bags. When you're finished, we'll have much to explain to you."

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Well, here it is. My gift to you: a new chapter. (I hope you like it. I didn't have much inspiration....)

Merry Christmas everyone! And a happy New Year!

Sorry 4 grammar & spelling. ( and the enormous amount of 'Atlantean(s)')

Enjoy!

* * *

We're standing in front of a mirror.

The fact that I'm only six and a half years old makes it easier to believe what Dad's trying to tell us with this. But it's still hard.

We were in the living room, waiting for Mr. Whitmore. Mom had already left with the guards. They are on their way to Mestor's camp now. Jenna. I can't believe they took her. Why? I mean she's just a kid.

I had so many questions, heard so many things that confused me. And the silence in our house…terrible.

"Daddy…the people this morning….you said they work for Mestor…Are they Atlanteans?" I had to ask it. Maybe I had heard it wrong.

"Atlanteans? Leah, you certainly don't believe …"

"No, Nathan," Dad sighed "She's… she's right. They are Atlanteans" Dad answered.

"What?!?…Atlanteans? Why would Atlanteans want to abduct our sister, I mean, we're…"

"Dad," Nathan began," you and Mom never went to Italy, did you? We knew it was just an excuse, but Atlantis?"

Dad just shook his head, while looking to the ground.

"We knew you and mom weren't always telling the truth. You went back. Why?"

Back to Atlantis? We all knew Mom and Dad, everybody around us, had something to hide. Why would they not tell us they went back to Atlantis?

"Dad…one of the men that took Jenna …Appi called him his brother…"

"I know, honey. I wanted to tell you this a long time ago, but with the war…How do I start?…Let's say that the intruders aren't the only Atlanteans in this village.."

"What do you mean, Daddy?"

"Appi, Gina, Moira…are they all Atlanteans?"

His answer was a simple 'yes'. Atlanteans. We're l-l…th-They … Atlanteans. All this time. Right here ? In our house?

It got worse. Dad took Rory's hand and putted me on his shoulders. He walked at the window. "Take a look. I know it's hard to believe., and that this is probably the worst way to tell you; but…what you see here, the buildings, the people… It's …in a way, Atlantean."

"What do you mean, Daddy?" Rory asked, "are the neighbors Atlanteans?"

Dad smiled. The first time since he heard Jenna scream. "Yes, Rory. In fact, 85% of this town's population is Alantean."

"Is that a lot?"

"Yes, Rory," Nathan answered, "Dad's claiming that almost everybody here is Atlantean."

"It's true."

"Dad, I'm willing to believe Atlantis exists, that you and your friends discovered it; but I cannot believe we're surrounded by it's inhabitants. I mean, what are they doing outside Atlantis? What are they doing here?"

"It's because of Mestor, isn't it , Daddy?"

"Indeed. It's a long story; and I'll tell you, but first you need to meet 3 very special Atlanteans."

A mirror. This is indeed the worst way to tell us.

**

" Come on, Dad. "We? Atlanteans?"

"You know, when I first saw the group of warriors, I couldn't believe they were still there. Alive. Atlanteans. I had found a living, breathing civilization. I had spent my life searching for Atlantis, only hoping to find some stone blocks and with some luck pottery. And then I met your mother. A beautiful Atlantean princess. We got married ; she had been crowned queen by then; and I wanted to stay with her in Atlantis forever." He sighed.

We said nothing. We found it difficult to believe that **our mother** was **a queen**. A queen! That would make us princes and princesses. Could it be real? Dad loves to tell stories, and he always claims they're true; but I know that there are no such things like giant monster lobsters; or a magic spear. Is this just another fairytale?

" But then Mestor took over the city…and our Mother Crystal refused to help us because we were all Atlanteans, she couldn't just choose a side. The only thing she did, unfortunately, was stop extending the life of the children; and you must know that Atlanteans live for thousands of years. She said that she'd make their adult life longer in return. Something about 'having more soldiers so the battle would end sooner'. Nonsense, if you ask me."

"What? Dad! You can't expect from us to believe this all. Me? A thousand year old prince?"

"No, Nathan; you're only 92."

"But I look like a 10 year old?"

"How old am I, daddy?"

"You're just 6, Rory"

Mr. Whitmore arrived.

"Come on, kids. Time to go. I'll tell you the rest of the story on the airplane."

***

"Of course, Mestor wanted us dead. We were the king and queen, with our little baby prince and princess. Once we were gone he would have the throne for himself. But we fled away ,to save you, Nathan, and your sister; taking as many people as we could with us. We needed a safe base from where we could try to recover the city. So our old friend Mr. Whitmore let us use some of the buildings he owns. In return, people did some chores for him. But the fight against Mestor lasted…We built houses, a school… The Village grew and some of us lost the hope ever go back to Atlantis. This became their , our new home, we started a new life there. We're happy there, but we miss Atlantis. Your mother especially. She hates that the circumstances had forced her to do the same thing as her father…Hide and let your way of living die. In the last two years, we've defeated most of Mestor's men; people are all on or side again, because they no longer fear him. Last week was supposed to be the final battle; we control the city again and now we're repairing the damage. But Mestor himself escaped, with some of his followers. And now he…"

"I'm sure they'll get her back, Milo. Leah and the others will be here before you know it."

"Are we going to Atlantis now, Daddy?"

"Yes dear. I'm sure you'll love it there. It's the most wonderful place on the planet."

* * *

I know you're thinking: Poor Kida! 4 kids! But I think it's got something mythical (I can give some examples but you probably wouldn't know them; so maybe 'the chronicles of Narnia'?)

I've tried to draw Leah and Jenna:

http: //e n i h p led a m i ra .d e v ia n t a r t. c o m / art /Leah-147947167 (remove space)

same: .com/art/Jenna-147947302

I'm still working on the boys.

Thanks for reading!

I'll try to update soon


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